The company that is redeveloping Harborplace, MCB Real Estate, will also operate the Inner Harbor Marina for the next 20 years.
Baltimore’s Board of Estimates on Wednesday approved a lease agreement between the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the lessor, and MCB IHM Owner LLC, the lessee, for the operation and management of the Inner Harbor Marina at 400 Key Highway.
MCB IHM Owner is an affiliate of MCB Real Estate, the company that is planning to replace the Harborplace pavilions at Pratt and Light streets with a $900 million mixed-use development that will contain apartments, shops, restaurants, offices and park space.
MCB also controls the office building at 1 E. Pratt St. and a parking lot at 301 E. Lombard St., where the News American newspaper headquarters once stood. The marina lease will give the company control over more property around the Inner Harbor basin.
According to the Baltimore Development Corporation, the agency that requested the board’s approval, the lease includes: 125 boat slips, facilities for dockside services including electricity, trash disposal, fuel dock, fresh water, sewage and wastewater disposal, rest rooms, laundry, showers, storage and office space.
The lease is for an initial term of 20 years with an option to renew for two additional terms of five years each. As approved by the Board of Estimates, the initial term will begin on April 1, 2026, and continue until March 31, 2046.
The lease calls for MCB IHM Owner to provide all labor, material, equipment and services to manage and operate the marina as a “first class” facility for the duration of the lease. MCB IHM Owner is required to pay the City of Baltimore annual rent in the amount of six percent of Gross Operating Revenue of the marina.
The marina’s current operator is Latitude Marinas, a company that manages marinas in Maryland and Washington, D. C. According to its website, its other properties include National Harbor Marina in Washington; Annapolis Town Dock in Annapolis and the Harbor East Marina, the Port Covington Marina and the Clinton Street Boatel in Baltimore.
The lease with MCB IHM Owner was approved without discussion as part of the board’s routine agenda. It had previously been reviewed and approved for form and legal sufficiency by Ronald Sheff, Special Council to the City of Baltimore.
The transaction amount was $1. According to the BDC, six percent of Inner Harbor Marina gross revenues is estimated at $1 million for the 20-year term ending in 2046. The lease is a sole source contract, the BDC said, and projections for participation by Minority Business Enterprises and Women’s Business Enterprises were not required.
